Raqesh Bapat and Shamita Shetty’s relationship on Bigg Boss OTT garnered a lot of headlines and chatter on social media. The duo hasn’t refrained from acknowledging their feelings for one another they developed during their stint on the show and even stepped out for a dinner date recently, leaving many #ShaRa fans beaming with joy. Now, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Raqesh Bapat has expressed gratitude for his fans whilst speaking about the profound liking he has for his fellow BB mate Shamita Shetty.
Raqesh shared, "Whatever I have for Shamita is from a place of care, thoroughly genuine and all from my heart. Had Shamita not been in the game, I would still have remained the same as I was seen throughout my stint, for I am the same in my real life too. There was no pretence. In that house, you need somebody to talk to, to vent out to, otherwise, you may just go mad. Whatever feelings of mine you all saw for Shamita were absolutely genuine and came from within a pure soul and intentions." said Bapat. However, a few trolls had also accused Raqesh of using Shamita only to reach the finale of Bigg Boss. On being quizzed about the accusations, Raqesh said, "That's not right! Shamita and I, both of us have had our own professional journeys and I do not need anybody to help me reach my goal. Also, let me tell you that honestly, winning the show was never my goal, I had participated to garner experience and see what the hype over BB has been all these years. So using Shamita to reach till the very end is absolutely out of question!" He went on to add, "Had I been evicted in the initial weeks itself, I would have been happy even then. Just because I am calm as a person and according to trolls, may have not succeeded in delivering the typical 'content', and if this is why they feel that I have used Shamita, then NO, it's wrong! I am not that shallow." The actor also revealed that it feels good to return home to his loved ones. He shared that his Bigg Boss stint left him feeling very overwhelmed and the first thing he did upon returning was sleep for hours without worrying about Bigg Boss waking him up with an alarm. He even stated that he spoke his heart out to his mother, sister and family and everybody unanimously told him that they were happy with his journey on the reality show.